Is your child ready for 2021? 

As we near the end of 2020, the Department of Education had difficult decisions to make in terms of year-end exams and promotion marks. They had to take into account that not all learners were privileged to continue learning during lockdown. The school calendar has therefore been adjusted and the assessment procedures have been amended. 

SUMMARY of DATES:

• Term 3, which is currently under way, will end Friday 23 October

• Term 4 will start on Monday 2 November

• The 2020 academic year will end on 15 December

• The 2021 academic year will start on 25 January for teachers and a few days later (no date given yet) for students

• Matric exams will end on 15 December

• Matric results will be released on 23 February 2021

• For universities, it seems like the 2021 academic year will only start in March or April (some speculate that the 2020 academic year will only end February 2021)

ASSESSMENTS:

The following changes to the assessment process have been proposed (and will hopefully not change again):

Foundation Phase (Grades R – 3) 

• School Based Assessments (SBAs) will remain unchanged

• 100% of these will count towards the promotion mark, but will only include assessments from Terms 1, 3 and 4

Grades 4 to 9 

• SBAs will count 80% of the final mark 

• There will be an end-of-year test series, not a formal exam, with a weighting of 20%

Grade 10 and 11 

• Final promotional exams will be replaced with formal controlled tests

• School Based Assessments will count 60% of the final mark and the formal controlled tests 40%

• Grade 10 tests will be 1-hour long and Grade 11 tests 2 hours and should be set to cover a substantial portion of the curriculum

What about Independent Schools?

Independent schools have the discretion to act independently and most of these schools were able to stick to the pre-determined term schedules. Learners were able to either physically attend school or continue via online learning for most of the lockdown. As a result, many of the schools are able to continue with year-end examinations as previously planned. Some of the private primary schools have opted to rather do test series instead of year-end exams- either way, the children will be formally accessed.

Where does this leave your child?

Although these disruptions and changes to assessment procedures affect all children, for children in Grades 7 and 11 these changes can have a more profound effect.

Grade 11 marks are used to apply at universities and other tertiary institutions and therefore the year-end assessments and SBAs are critical. In the past, SBAs contributed 25% towards the final mark, and year-end exams (which were standardised) contributed 75%. The proposed year-end controlled tests will only contribute 40% towards the final mark, and SBAs 60%. 

These assessments are not standardised and are controlled by each individual school. The question is whether these results would be a true reflection of a child’s ability and the best tool to decide if a child is capable to study a specific course at university. And would students in schools where proper exams are written not then be disadvantaged when they apply to study at tertiary institutions? 

If you have a child in Grade 7, the question would be whether your child is ready for the big step to Grade 8 or not. With so many disruptions in the year, it is expected that the full curriculum could not have been covered in detail. Without formal assessments (like an exam) at the end of the year, it would also be difficult to find those ‘gaps’ in your child’s education. The onus therefore rests on parents to make sure that their kids have mastered the key concepts of the fundamental subjects (Mathematics, Languages, Sciences).

In conclusion, an exam is a great tool to test your child’s knowledge and grasp of a subject, but in the absence thereof rather encourage your child to gain a real understanding of the subject matter as it will definitely be an advantage in the 2021 academic year.